'A New Experience for Everybody': Pedestrians, Cyclists Navigate New Tulsa Diverging Diamond

The new diverging diamond on Creek Turnpike and Memorial Drive was built to accommodate cars, but the Oklahoma Department of Transportation still kept pedestrians in mind.

ODOT says the new interchange will have crosswalks at the ramps on both sides of the bridge, with one crossing at Memorial near the trail.

“It’s not a heavy pedestrian zone but it's definitely built to accommodate pedestrians should they come through here,” said TJ Gerlach with ODOT.

While it's been smooth sailing for the drivers, some walkers like Stephen Bolin find navigating the diamond’s construction difficult.

"It's still basically a headache,” he said.

He doesn’t have a car and says walking through a busy unfinished intersection like this can be confusing.

“When you’re doing construction and everything and you still have pedestrians going down the street, they don’t have any safety precautions or anything else, letting the pedestrians know which way to go, which way not to go,” said Bolin.

Cyclist Jim Bickford says he takes Memorial every day to drop his kids off at school.

“We made it, and everyone seemed to be moving along okay in their cars today….it's different on a bike,” he said.

Once the construction is all finished, if people on both ends pay attention and the pedestrian layout is visible, he says he doesn’t see it causing issues.

“Hopefully ODOT does a nice job with their signs, and it's clearly marked where people and bicyclists are supposed to walk and bike,” said Bickford.

So whether traveling by car, bike or on foot, the new diverging diamond takes some learning.

“I think it's gonna be a new experience for everybody,” said Bickford.

ODOT says they still need to build some islands to direct traffic, but then they will finish construction by the end of June, and that's when the crosswalks will open up as well.